Cardenal Biography
LEONARDO, DAYANNE LEI A. ENG 12 – X3
2012 – 11943 May 19, 2014
POETRY ANALYSIS:
FINAL OFFENSIVE
Ernesto Cardenal
Ernesto Cardenal is considered by many to be one of the most significant poets of Central America. Cardenal is a Catholic priest, a Nicaraguan revolutionary, a sculptor, and his country’s former minister of culture (Magill, 1997). He was born in Granada, Nicaragua to an upper-middle-class family in 1925. He attended both the University of Mexico and in 1947, the Columbia University in New York. According to Middleton (2010),
In 1954, Cardenal participated in a plot to assassinate Nicaragua’s president Anastacio Somoza Garcia, one of Latin America’s greediest and most brutal dictators and the United States’ primary …show more content…
Latin American client. After converting to Roman Catholicism, Cardenal became committed to strict non-violence, entered the priesthood, and became one of Latin America’s most idiosyncratic liberation theologians, interpreting the Bible, the church, and culture through the lens of military dictatorship, torture and poverty.
Years later, he would see his “beautiful revolution” up close, acting as a spokesman for the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Spanish: Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, or FSLN) in the late 1970s as it waged war against, and eventually toppled, Somoza (Roig-Franzia, 2011).
Cardenal’s revolutionary political ideology is evident in his poetry. After studying at Columbia, he started writing in what he called the exteriorista (exteriorist) poetry. It is characterized by “concrete imagery, specific language, montage-like organization, zigzagging time, historical subject matter, and biblical interpretative filters” (Middleton, 2010). It is a narrative and anecdotal poetry made with elements of real life and what is concrete with personal names and precise details (Boerckel, 1987).
In his poem, “Final Offensive,” Cardenal demonstrates the exteriorist school of poetry by making use of events during the Nicaraguan Revolution of 1979, specifically on the part of the revolutionary forces. He made contrasts between the complexities that come with the United States’ preparation for the voyages to the Moon and the intricacies that accompany the Sandinistas’ efforts to organize their offensive strategies during the time of the revolutionary struggle against Somoza. It also emphasizes the importance of proper communication and how cooperation between the participants plays a huge part in the success of the whole operation, whether it be about going to outer-space or staging a revolution.
Cardenal also made use of specific language to set the tone. The poem depicts, on one hand, an air of anticipation and concern, for a single, most minute mistake could sabotage everything they have been working towards. This is most evident in how the Sandinistas warn each other of how “enemy reinforcements were circling in dangerously” (10-11) and their how ammunitions were running low. But on the other hand, there is also a semblance of maintaining composure and confidence despite the danger and uncertainties that the circumstances have brought. It can be observed in how Cardenal describes the way the figures he mentioned in the poem communicate with “sing-song… serene, calm voices” (11, 18) regardless of the enormous risk that each individual task entails.
It is also important to note the assortment of names of places mentioned in the beginning of the poem specifically that of León, Masaya, Esteli and Managua. According to an article about Idania Fernandez (2014), one of the most cherished martyrs of the revolution,
In late 1978 the Somoza 's National Guard had been killing the population without mercy in the towns of León, Masaya and Estelí by aerial bombing. That was too much to bear for the Sandinistas. It was about time to finish the Somoza 's regime.
Those places were part of the “five guerrilla fronts opened under the joint command of the FSLN, including an internal front in the capital city Managua” (Sandinista National Liberation Front, 2014).
There were also some people mentioned, namely Dora Maria, Rubén and Ruguma, who had valuable contributions during the time of the revolution. Dora María Téllez, “as Commander Two, at age 22, she was third in command in a daring operation on August 22, 1978 that occupied the Nicaraguan National Palace in Managua” (Dora María Téllez, 2013). Dora Maria and her command also occupied León less than a month before the revolution came to an end. Ruben Dario, on the other hand, is Nicaragua’s national poet. He “challenged people to understand the anti-imperialist and aesthetic forces that would ultimately culminate in the Sandinista revolution” (Craven, 2006). He created a revolution on his own through his poetry, of which Cardenal was influenced. Lastly, Leonel Rugama was a poet and FSLN cadre who was killed in 1970 in a shoot-out with the National Guard. He was renowned for his poem “The Earth is a Satellite of the Moon,” the last line of which is “blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the moon.” Rugama criticized the United States’ increasingly expensive Apollo moon flights, while people are dying of hunger in the slums of Acahaulinca. He struck a friendship Cardenal and through “Final Offensive,” Cardenal “took up the challenge to respond to Rugama in the aftermath of the revolutionary victory for which the young poet had given his life” (Craven, 2006).
The poem depicted the Sandinistas “final offensive” attempts at overthrowing the dictator. In the last line of the poem, Cardenal illustrates that they have actually succeeded in doing so: It was like a voyage to the moon. And with no mistakes.
So very many coordinating their work in the great project.
The moon was the earth. Our piece of the earth.
And we got there. (21-24)
The group of people in the poem was able to execute their plans and reclaim Nicaragua, albeit some obstacles. More than anything else, the moon here serves as a metaphor for the Sandinistas’ goal to overthrow Somoza; it symbolizes the revolutionists’ strife for victory. The moon represents the “piece of the earth” that they could call theirs: a place where no one dies of hunger, where children could live full lives and where people are free and not governed by a dictator who would not care for his citizens. After the revolution, that place became Nicaragua, the same place destructed by rebellions, but renewed by a democratic government that operates for the people and that which is finally freed from an oppressive one that serves only those who are privileged and wealthy.
References:
Boerckel, D. (1987). The Earth is a Satellite of the Moon, and: High/Blood/Pressure (review). Minnesota Review 29(1), 145-147. Duke University Press. Retrieved May 18, 2014, from Project MUSE database.
Craven, D. (2006). Art and Revolution in Latin America, 1910-1990. Retrieved http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=Z91vz-yr5ecC&dq=ernesto+cardenal+and+leonel+rugama&source=gbs_navlinks_s Dora María Téllez. (2013, August 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 18, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dora_Mar%C3%ADa_T%C3%A9llez&oldid=567039373
Idania Fernandez.
(2014, March 21). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 18, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Idania_Fernandez&oldid=600564238
Magill, F.N. (1997). Biography. Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/topics/ernesto-cardenal#biography-biography-1
Middleton, D.J.N. (2010). Mother Tongue Theologies: Poets, Novelists, Non-Western Christianity. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=t1NKAwAAQBAJ&dq=blessed+are+the+poor+for+they+shall+inherit+the+moon+rugama+interpretation&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Randall, M. (1994). Sandino’s Daughters Revisited: Feminism in Nicaragua. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=hc1HV7jWZNUC&dq=dora+maria+tellez+leon+nicaragua&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Roig-Franzia, M. (2011). Ernesto Cardenal, poet and Catholic priest, still causes controversy at age 86. Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/ernesto-cardenal-poet-and-catholic-priest-still-causes-controversy-at-age-86/2011/05/26/AGSok0EH_story.html
Sandinista National Liberation Front. (2014, May 9). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 18, 2014,
fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sandinista_National_Liberation_Front&oldid=607779556
2012 – 11943 May 19, 2014
POETRY ANALYSIS:
FINAL OFFENSIVE
Ernesto Cardenal
Ernesto Cardenal is considered by many to be one of the most significant poets of Central America. Cardenal is a Catholic priest, a Nicaraguan revolutionary, a sculptor, and his country’s former minister of culture (Magill, 1997). He was born in Granada, Nicaragua to an upper-middle-class family in 1925. He attended both the University of Mexico and in 1947, the Columbia University in New York. According to Middleton (2010),
In 1954, Cardenal participated in a plot to assassinate Nicaragua’s president Anastacio Somoza Garcia, one of Latin America’s greediest and most brutal dictators and the United States’ primary …show more content…
Latin American client. After converting to Roman Catholicism, Cardenal became committed to strict non-violence, entered the priesthood, and became one of Latin America’s most idiosyncratic liberation theologians, interpreting the Bible, the church, and culture through the lens of military dictatorship, torture and poverty.
Years later, he would see his “beautiful revolution” up close, acting as a spokesman for the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Spanish: Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, or FSLN) in the late 1970s as it waged war against, and eventually toppled, Somoza (Roig-Franzia, 2011).
Cardenal’s revolutionary political ideology is evident in his poetry. After studying at Columbia, he started writing in what he called the exteriorista (exteriorist) poetry. It is characterized by “concrete imagery, specific language, montage-like organization, zigzagging time, historical subject matter, and biblical interpretative filters” (Middleton, 2010). It is a narrative and anecdotal poetry made with elements of real life and what is concrete with personal names and precise details (Boerckel, 1987).
In his poem, “Final Offensive,” Cardenal demonstrates the exteriorist school of poetry by making use of events during the Nicaraguan Revolution of 1979, specifically on the part of the revolutionary forces. He made contrasts between the complexities that come with the United States’ preparation for the voyages to the Moon and the intricacies that accompany the Sandinistas’ efforts to organize their offensive strategies during the time of the revolutionary struggle against Somoza. It also emphasizes the importance of proper communication and how cooperation between the participants plays a huge part in the success of the whole operation, whether it be about going to outer-space or staging a revolution.
Cardenal also made use of specific language to set the tone. The poem depicts, on one hand, an air of anticipation and concern, for a single, most minute mistake could sabotage everything they have been working towards. This is most evident in how the Sandinistas warn each other of how “enemy reinforcements were circling in dangerously” (10-11) and their how ammunitions were running low. But on the other hand, there is also a semblance of maintaining composure and confidence despite the danger and uncertainties that the circumstances have brought. It can be observed in how Cardenal describes the way the figures he mentioned in the poem communicate with “sing-song… serene, calm voices” (11, 18) regardless of the enormous risk that each individual task entails.
It is also important to note the assortment of names of places mentioned in the beginning of the poem specifically that of León, Masaya, Esteli and Managua. According to an article about Idania Fernandez (2014), one of the most cherished martyrs of the revolution,
In late 1978 the Somoza 's National Guard had been killing the population without mercy in the towns of León, Masaya and Estelí by aerial bombing. That was too much to bear for the Sandinistas. It was about time to finish the Somoza 's regime.
Those places were part of the “five guerrilla fronts opened under the joint command of the FSLN, including an internal front in the capital city Managua” (Sandinista National Liberation Front, 2014).
There were also some people mentioned, namely Dora Maria, Rubén and Ruguma, who had valuable contributions during the time of the revolution. Dora María Téllez, “as Commander Two, at age 22, she was third in command in a daring operation on August 22, 1978 that occupied the Nicaraguan National Palace in Managua” (Dora María Téllez, 2013). Dora Maria and her command also occupied León less than a month before the revolution came to an end. Ruben Dario, on the other hand, is Nicaragua’s national poet. He “challenged people to understand the anti-imperialist and aesthetic forces that would ultimately culminate in the Sandinista revolution” (Craven, 2006). He created a revolution on his own through his poetry, of which Cardenal was influenced. Lastly, Leonel Rugama was a poet and FSLN cadre who was killed in 1970 in a shoot-out with the National Guard. He was renowned for his poem “The Earth is a Satellite of the Moon,” the last line of which is “blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the moon.” Rugama criticized the United States’ increasingly expensive Apollo moon flights, while people are dying of hunger in the slums of Acahaulinca. He struck a friendship Cardenal and through “Final Offensive,” Cardenal “took up the challenge to respond to Rugama in the aftermath of the revolutionary victory for which the young poet had given his life” (Craven, 2006).
The poem depicted the Sandinistas “final offensive” attempts at overthrowing the dictator. In the last line of the poem, Cardenal illustrates that they have actually succeeded in doing so: It was like a voyage to the moon. And with no mistakes.
So very many coordinating their work in the great project.
The moon was the earth. Our piece of the earth.
And we got there. (21-24)
The group of people in the poem was able to execute their plans and reclaim Nicaragua, albeit some obstacles. More than anything else, the moon here serves as a metaphor for the Sandinistas’ goal to overthrow Somoza; it symbolizes the revolutionists’ strife for victory. The moon represents the “piece of the earth” that they could call theirs: a place where no one dies of hunger, where children could live full lives and where people are free and not governed by a dictator who would not care for his citizens. After the revolution, that place became Nicaragua, the same place destructed by rebellions, but renewed by a democratic government that operates for the people and that which is finally freed from an oppressive one that serves only those who are privileged and wealthy.
References:
Boerckel, D. (1987). The Earth is a Satellite of the Moon, and: High/Blood/Pressure (review). Minnesota Review 29(1), 145-147. Duke University Press. Retrieved May 18, 2014, from Project MUSE database.
Craven, D. (2006). Art and Revolution in Latin America, 1910-1990. Retrieved http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=Z91vz-yr5ecC&dq=ernesto+cardenal+and+leonel+rugama&source=gbs_navlinks_s Dora María Téllez. (2013, August 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 18, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dora_Mar%C3%ADa_T%C3%A9llez&oldid=567039373
Idania Fernandez.
(2014, March 21). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 18, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Idania_Fernandez&oldid=600564238
Magill, F.N. (1997). Biography. Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/topics/ernesto-cardenal#biography-biography-1
Middleton, D.J.N. (2010). Mother Tongue Theologies: Poets, Novelists, Non-Western Christianity. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=t1NKAwAAQBAJ&dq=blessed+are+the+poor+for+they+shall+inherit+the+moon+rugama+interpretation&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Randall, M. (1994). Sandino’s Daughters Revisited: Feminism in Nicaragua. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=hc1HV7jWZNUC&dq=dora+maria+tellez+leon+nicaragua&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Roig-Franzia, M. (2011). Ernesto Cardenal, poet and Catholic priest, still causes controversy at age 86. Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/ernesto-cardenal-poet-and-catholic-priest-still-causes-controversy-at-age-86/2011/05/26/AGSok0EH_story.html
Sandinista National Liberation Front. (2014, May 9). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 18, 2014,
fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sandinista_National_Liberation_Front&oldid=607779556